The Importance of Being Earnest
by Dark Hope Assassin
Summary: She hadn't really meant much when she'd said it. It was something most of the people around him said as they watched him play. So how come her lighthearted, unimportant comment had turned out to have such an impact on him? After all, all she'd done was be sincere with him. A most curious incident that takes place in the third year of Daiki and Satsuki's attendance in Touou.


It's the third game they play with Daiki as the team's Captain.

However, it's the first actual match that counts for the season. This is probably why he seems to give it extra effort as compared to the previous games.

She had noticed it in the past two matches as well, but she was quite sure everyone had been made aware of it by now. It was very plain to see, after all.

It was no secret to anyone that had eyes to use that Daiki had been amazing on court since day one. Touou had also been a strong team for several years now, too.

But the Touou which Daiki led was truly in a league of its own.

Satsuki was certain without a doubt that when Wakamatsu had first decided to pass on the captaincy torch to Dai-chan, most of the team who had seen him—and the way he acted when it came to team play—and his basketball before had been worried that Touou would be sent on a downward spiral from the moment someone as irresponsible as Daiki took over the most important position in the team.

Of course, even those who disliked him the most could tell that he was invaluable to Touou – he was their best ace, an unstoppable scorer, a hurricane on court.

But, much like the rest of them (or maybe a bit more), he was too self-centred, too self-absorbed. So, how was someone like that supposed to lead a team efficiently? Moreover, how was someone who rarely ever showed up to practice supposed to accomplish anything with the team?

And yet, here they were, several months later, with a rather reliable captain leading them in a rather unorthodox way to victory, again and again. Dai-chan's style of orchestrating the game was haphazard and all over the place, much like his own style of basketball – but maybe it was exactly that which made the team so successful now.

What struck her more, though, was how cool and composed he had stayed throughout the game, no matter what the opponents threw at them. He was still bad at being supportive and showing others that it was okay to rely on him, but his ways showed results and Satsuki was grateful for the simple-mindedness of the boys from their team.

After the match was over and they were on their way home at a leisurely pace, Satsuki stared at Daiki's profile. A short deliberation with herself later, she decided to say it anyway:

"You were really cool out there today, Dai-chan!" She decided to tell him, because it was the truth of the matter.

He'd been so amazing that he'd inspired her with awe enough to have her make such a claim without thinking it over much.

But when he only blinked stupidly with a blank expression on his face for over a minute after she'd said it, she started regretting her sincerity.

Her cheeks puffed out petulantly, her smile morphing into a pout.

"Well? Say something at least!" She crossed her arms under her ample bosom in her ire. "If you keep staring all dumbstruck after I say something like that it would make me seem like an idiot!"

She stopped walking, her feet pinning to the spot. Only once he comes to a stop, too, does Daiki seem to snap out of his daze.

He then took a short moment to absorb her outraged statement.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Her eyes narrowed. This was honestly little better than the situation before… "It's just I wasn't expecting to hear you say anything like that." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You haven't complimented me since 5th grade."

It was her turn to blink in bafflement as she mulled over how oddly particular he seemed to be with his estimation.

"I do, though. All the time," she corrected him. He huffed and turned his face away from her.

"You just parrot along the shit everyone says. You never say anything other than what sounds like observations."

The manager took a moment to consider his claim and realized he was probably right. What surprised her a little more other than the fact that he'd noticed it was that it seemed to have bothered him in some way, for him to have taken note of it like this.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye the entire time she mulled over his retort.

"I always figured you had some sort of 'Don't give him a reason to get a bigger head than he already does!' policy or something, so you never said anything that could be thought of as flattery of any kind," he adds as an after-thought, with all the nonchalance he can muster.

Her mouth forming a tiny O was all the answer he needed for that guess he had ventured. He rubbed the back of his neck in a guilty gesture as he figured, considering how he had been in middle school and the first year of high school, she had been entirely justified in her decision.

"Anyway, thanks… for your compliment, I guess." The words felt awkward on his tongue, especially when he was offering them to _her_. He wondered if that's how she'd felt when she'd said them, too, before discarding that thought. "Let's do our best next match as well, manager," he told her with a small smile.

She grinned back, showing rows of pearly white teeth as she nodded her affirmation. Her goofy grin made the fondness of his smile grow, and he patted her head like one would pat a child's before he started walking in direction of his home once again.

The smile on his face and the look in his eyes before he turned away from her drew her attention back to how serious a thought he must've given this matter. It was rare to ever see Daiki being so articulate or particular about anything. And yet here he had been, pointedly telling her of his observations of things she hadn't even accounted him capable of noticing.

It also didn't elude her notice that her complimenting him seemed to put him in even better spirits, if the slight tune he was humming to himself was anything to go by.

Satsuki smiled to herself as she jogged lightly to fall into stride with her childhood friend. She wasn't sure what exactly had just happened, but she filed the information he had given her for further analysis.

If her being earnest with him was all it took to get him to take his responsibilities more seriously, she should've done that ages ago.


End file.
